Brian Johnson

Episode 56: Breathe Into Your Fear

“There’s only one way to get
through the fog of fear, and that’s to transform it into the
clarity of exhilaration. One of the greatest pieces of wisdom I’ve
ever heard comes from Fritz Perls, MD, the psychiatrist and founder
of Gestalt therapy. He said, “Fear is excitement without the
breath.” Here’s what this intriguing statement means: the very
same mechanisms that produce excitement also produce fear, and any
fear can be transformed into excitement by breathing fully with it.
On the other hand, excitement turns into fear quickly if you hold
your breath. When scared, most of us have a tendency to try to get
rid of the feeling. We think we can get rid of it by denying or
ignoring it, and we use holding our breath as a physical tool of
denial.” ~ Gay Hendricks from The
Big Leap

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Transcript

Breathe Into Your Fear

“There’s only one way to get
through the fog of fear, and that’s to transform it into the
clarity of exhilaration. One of the greatest pieces of wisdom I’ve
ever heard comes from Fritz Perls, MD, the psychiatrist and founder
of Gestalt therapy. He said, “Fear is excitement without the
breath.” Here’s what this intriguing statement means: the very
same mechanisms that produce excitement also produce fear, and any
fear can be transformed into excitement by breathing fully with it.
On the other hand, excitement turns into fear quickly if you hold
your breath. When scared, most of us have a tendency to try to get
rid of the feeling. We think we can get rid of it by denying or
ignoring it, and we use holding our breath as a physical tool of
denial.” ~ Gay Hendricks from The
Big Leap

This is a REALLY Big Idea: --> “Fear is excitement without
the breath.”

We’ve talk about the fact that the very same mechanisms that
produce fear also produce excitement in our Notes on Overachievement
and The
Silva Method of Mental Dynamics. It’s a *really* powerful
concept. The energy itself is neutral. It’s how we interpret
it (via our thoughts/actions) that determines whether we experience
excitement or fear.

The fastest way to channel the energy into fear? Hold your breath,
imagine everything that can go wrong and don’t take action.

The fastest way to channel the energy into excitement? Breathe
deeply and imagine all the amazing things you’re about to
experience and just go for it!

Gay says this about breathing into it: “The
best advice I can give you is to take big, easy breaths when you feel
fear. Feel the fear instead of pretending it’s not there. Celebrate
it with a big breath, just the way you’d celebrate your birthday by
taking a big breath and blowing out all the candles on your cake. Do
that, and your fear turns into excitement. Do it more, and your
excitement turns into exhilaration. I ﬁnd it very empowering to
know that I’m in charge of the exhilaration I feel as I go through
life. I bet you will, too.”

John Eliot in his phenomenal book, Overachievement (see
Notes),
says this about just going for it: “The physical symptoms of
fight-or-flight are what the human body has learned over thousands of
years to operate more efficiently and at the highest level. Anxiety
is a cognitive interpretation of that physical response.” He
continues: “Exceptional thinkers learn to trust their
consciousness. They teach themselves the power of positive action.
They don’t stop to think about how great the act is going to be.
Instead, they act.”

So, are you feeling some fear? Take a deep breath and celebrate it
as you blow out some imaginary candles and JUST DO IT!!! ... And,
don’t forget Emerson’s mojo on the subject: “Always, always,
always, always, always do the thing you fear and the death of fear is
certain.”